Life as a PhD student at MIT isn't easy. Endless problem sets, exams, sponsor visits and committee meetings result in many sleepless nights. Your research work becomes your life and you feel guilty for every moment spent not working.

One of my guilty pleasures is baking. Whenever I need to celebrate or drown my sorrows, which occurs frequently as a graduate student, I find a new recipe. Over the past couple of years, I have subjected many of my friends and neighbors to my concoctions. They haven't seen anything yet!

For Christmas, I received the Flour cookbook. For those of you who don't know what Flour is, I feel sorry for you. Flour is a fantastic bakery and cafe located close to MIT. I'll often stop off here on my way home after a bad day for a sweet, sugary pick-me-up.

After receiving the cookbook, I decided with all my copious free time (yeah right) that I was in need of another project. My mission is to bake every recipe from the Flour cookbook before I graduate. Now the race is on.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

It's Matt's Birthday and I'll Bake If I Want To

Chopped rosemary waiting
to be added to the shortbread.
 So, what do you do when a good friend of yours is having a birthday and you need to run off to your roommates wedding?  Well, perhaps some people would just say sorry I can't make it and sign a card, but not me.  I decided to....  guess what....  bake!
I decided to make rosemary shortbread cookies from page 146 in the cookbook.  I never realized how much butter goes into shortbread cookies before.  MADNESS!  Since they were sooo delicious, I've done my best to forget.  These cookies are savory and sweet at the same time.  It's really a great combination, I feel sad that I was only able to sample a few before dropping them off at the party.  I was told they all disappeared in the blink of an eye.  This recipe is fantastic and I'll be making it again soon!  Thanks Flour and Happy Birthday Matt!
Deliciousness cooling.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

It's My Birthday and I'll Bake If I Want To

The half-eaten results.
I'm heading back into the photo vault for this one.  I'm slowly catching up on my baking blog posts.  This particular entry dates back to this past June.  My birthday to be exact.
I'm very lucky to live in a great community with lots of great friends.  I invited them over to join me for nice wine, conversation and dessert.  It was a really great evening and of course I decided that I should bake a little something.  I decided to go with the raspberry crumb bars on page 150.  They have a great flaky shortbread base and are absolutely delicious. They were so good that I sent 2 of my friends home with the recipe.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Last House Meeting!

Peanut butter cookies ready for the oven.
Throughout the year, I've been baking for my fellow SP House Council members once a month at our house meetings.  It's been a great chance for me to improve my baking skills and check a couple recipes off my list.  The April house meeting was my final meeting as President and my last chance to subject my officers to my Flour recipes.  The April house meeting was election time, and one of the questions from the audience was if the home baked goods would continue through the next year :).  I guess we'll see.
The final bread pudding.
I made two treats for my last house meeting.  The first was the peanut butter cookies on page 114 of the cookbook.  If you are a peanut butter cookie fan, these are a must.  I'll need to pass this recipe along to my mom later.  The second treat was the berry bread pudding on page 256, also delicious and it disappeared quickly.
It's really been a great year serving as President of SP.  I got to work with some really great people, got to work on lots of interesting projects and made a lot of friends along the way.  Hopefully, they weren't just using me for my baking :).